NEW: Emerging Scholars in Australian Indigenous Studies Who knows best? Paternalism in Aboriginal policy Emily Jeffes University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, PO Box 123, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia.
[email protected] Abstract: Through colonial eyes, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are seen as subjects void of agency. They have been treated by the Australian polity as though they are in great need of saving. This paper explores the ways in which well- intended policies and initiatives implemented by successive governments have failed to recognise and support Indigenous Australians as functioning sovereign beings. Keywords: paternalism; Aboriginality; sovereignty; inequality The treatment of Indigenous Australians has historically reflected a paternalist notion that the ‘state knows best’. Policies and initiatives introduced by successive Australian governments pertaining to Indigenous Affairs have consistently reinforced the colonial construction of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as incapable of a functioning existence free from external support, protection and intervention. The 1967 Referendum resulted in constitutional changes that allowed the federal government to introduce laws specific to the Aboriginal ‘race’, ultimately expanding their authority in the everyday lives of Indigenous Australians. Top-down policies of guardianship that limit the agency of the individual continue to be implemented in Aboriginal Affairs, justified by the projected positive outcomes. Seeking to address disadvantage and inequality, policies such as the 2007 Northern Territory Intervention, ever-expanding management of welfare payments and initiatives to ‘Close the Gap’ are introduced with honourable intentions. However, they ultimately fail to recognise and support Indigenous Australians as functioning sovereign beings.